It has been known for some years that there are serious safety concerns about the RAF's fleet of Nimrod aircraft. Based on the old (now very old) Comet passenger jets, which themselves were beset by safety problems, one has already crashed on active service, killing all 14 of the crew. But despite assurances from minsters, further evidence has emerged of fuel leaks in the aircraft.
The BBC reports that the log of one aircraft has been leaked to them, with the log book showing that at least one other aircraft in the fleet has sever fuel leaks, leading the plane to be highly dangerous.
One has to ask, if the government are so sure of the aircraft's safety, perhaps ministers could be flown to official visits in Nimrods for the next six months ? This vote of confidence from ministers would surely tell us all that they are genuinely of the belief that the aircraft are safe.
3 comments:
Nich, the government's hands are rather tied on this particular matter. While there are issues with the Nimrod planes, our forces on the ground depend heavily on the intelligence they provide. Grounding the Nimrods would cause even more problems.
There is a replacement ISTAR aircraft in the pipeline, so it's not as if the government has been complacent on this issue.
What exactly should the government do?
A few years ago the UK government leased some AWACS planes whilst newer Nimrods were coming in. Also, NATA used to have four AWACS planes that belonged to NATA. Couldn't the UK use them as the UK forces are there on NATO duties ?
There is also discussion of the other options available to the government at
http://lindyloosmuze.blogspot.com/2007/11/nimrod-scandal-and-disgracea-metaphor.html
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